Empowering all Women, in Space and on Earth

Grants & Awards

 WIA-Europe is dedicated to fostering a gender-balanced aerospace community by actively supporting its members through a range of initiatives. Our commitment extends to encouraging emerging talents and providing assistance to professionals who share our goal of promoting diversity and inclusivity in the aerospace sector. Through these efforts, we strive to advance not only individual careers but also contribute to the overall progress of the aerospace industry. WIA-Europe has three annual recognitions:
Outstanding Achievement Award

Each year, WIA-Europe bestows the Outstanding Achievement Award to honour exceptional accomplishments and leadership qualities of individuals, serving as both a tribute within the aerospace community and a source of inspiration for future generations. The WIA-Europe Outstanding Achievement Award comprises an engraved statuette and an Honorary Membership, presented during an awards ceremony. Our esteemed honorary members continue to actively support and enrich the WIA-Europe community.

The WIA-Europe Outstanding Achievement Award is an engraved statuette and an Honorary Membership, presented at the award ceremony. It is presented to a person who has:

  • Shown noteworthy achievements in or contributions to an aerospace related project or programme that represents a breakthrough or milestone in the aerospace field in Europe.
  • Shown noteworthy achievements in or contributions to an academic/educational project or programme that represents a breakthrough or milestone in the aerospace field in Europe.
  • Shown exemplary leadership abilities in the aerospace field.
    Served/serves as a role model or mentor who demonstrates dedication to the advancement of women in aerospace.
    Contributed positively to raise awareness and recognition of women in aerospace.
  • An active commitment to the professional growth of women in aerospace.

There are no constraints on age, gender or nationality for the WIA-Europe Outstanding Achievement Award. WIA-Europe promotes diversity and as such accepts candidates from all nations, and encourages the nomination of men focusing on points 4, 5 and 6 of the above criteria.

The candidate can apply themselves, or can be nominated by someone else. All entries are judged by a committee of three WIA-Europe members and two WIA-Europe Board members. The entries must have:

  • A completed, signed application form (available for download below)
  • An essay of up to 500 words explaining the motivation for the nomination, including at least:
           The relevance of the nominated individual in the aerospace sector;
           His/her role in supporting women leadership and presence in the aerospace sector;
           His/her recognition in the international arena.
  • The nominee’s extended CV
  • A copy of a valid passport or other official identification document.
WIA- Europe Student Conference Grant

The WIA-Europe Student Conference Grant is designed to provide financial assistance to Bachelor, Master, and PhD students in Europe, enabling them to attend an international workshop or conference for the first time and present their paper on aerospace topics. 

To qualify for the WIA-Europe Student Conference Grant, applicants must:

  • Applicant shall be a WIA-Europe member

  • Applicant shall be based in Europe

  • Applicant shall be a student of a Bachelor, Master, or PhD degree

  • Applicant shall attend for first time an international workshop or conference

  • Applicant shall have an accepted abstract on a space-related topic in an international workshop or conference

  • Applicant shall be one of the paper authors

  • Applicant shall be the paper presenter

  • Applicant should be receiving financial support from WIA-Europe for first time

*All answers and documents shall be in English

The application should include the following:

  • Application form completed via WIA-Europe website

  • CV (PDF, in Europass format, maximum 2 pages)

  • Acceptance letter to the workshop or conference

  • Copy of the abstract

  • Motivation letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, no images)

  • Formal support letter (PDF, maximum 1 page, including signature, no images) from a university professor or academic supervisor of current university

*All documents must be uploaded through WIA-Europe's provided link

*Only applications including all the above stated documents will be eligible

  • Only applications from eligible applicants, who submitted all the requested documents, in English, will be considered

  • The WIA- Europe Student Conference Grant is EUR 1,000

  • Winners are entitled to a free individual WIA membership for the following year

  • A brief bio (½ page) and photo can be published on our website (upon request)

  • Winners shall submit a report (PDF, maximum 2 pages, including pictures) within 6 months after receiving the grant, on how the WIA-Europe financial support  sustained their registration and travel expenses and share the benefit of participating to the workshop or conference

  • A summary of the report will be published in the WIA-Europe digest

*All answers and documents shall be in English.

Timeline

February 3rd, 2025

Submission Open

May 2nd, 2025

Submission Deadline

June 30th, 2025

Announcement of Winners

WIA-Europe Inspirational Award

The WIA-Europe Inspirational Award aims to engage WIA-E members and encourage them to promote aerospace and inspire future generations. The applicant should submit a short report describing their contribution to promote space and inspire future generation

To qualify for the WIA-Europe Student Conference Grant, applicants must:

  • Applicant shall be a WIA-Europe member

  • Applicant shall be based in Europe

  • Applicant shall be actively contributing to the project

  • Applicant shall either study or work in the aerospace industry

  • Applicant should be receiving financial support from WIA-Europe for first time

The application should include the following:

  • Application form completed via WIA-Europe  website

  • CV (PDF, in Europass format, maximum 2 pages, no images)

  • Initiative/Project document including (PDF, max 3 pages):

    • Description 

    • Objectives

    • Action Plan

    • Ongoing activities

    • Personal contribution 

    • Impact, specifying the number and profile of people benefiting from the Initiative/Project

    • Explanation of how the financial support from WIA-Europe would benefit this Initiative/Project

*All documents must be uploaded through WIA-Europe's provided link

*Only applications including all the above stated documents will be eligible

  • Only applications from eligible applicants, who submitted all the requested documents, in English, will be considered

  • The WIA-Europe Inspirational Award is EUR 1,000

  • Winners are entitled to a free individual membership for the following year

  • A brief bio (½ page) and photo can be published on our website (upon request)

  • Winners are required to submit a report within six months after receiving the award (PDF, maximum 2 pages, including pictures) detailing the utilisation of the WIA-Europe financial support and its benefits for future generations

  • A summary of the report will be published in the WIA-Europe digest

*All answers and documents shall be in English.

Timeline

February 3rd, 2025

Submission Open

May 2nd, 2025

Submission Deadline

June 30th, 2025

Announcement of Winners

MOST RECENT GRANTS AND AWARDS RECIPIENTS

Over the past decade, we have awarded a number of grants & awards to young students and professionals.

GRANTS RECIPIENTS
  • Ilenia Bruseghello – 2024
  • Ariane Mansard – 2023
  • Evgenia Yvonni Tseloni – 2023
  • Marie-Claire de Bruijn – 2022
  • Yedida Jyothirmai – 2022
  • Elfie Roy – 2021
  • Federica Angeletti – 2021
  • Sara Khan – 2019
  • Shambo Bhattacharjee – 2019
  • Harriet Brettle – 2019
  • Eleonor Frost – 2019
  • Greta De Marco – 2019
  • Merel Vergaaij – 2019
AWARDS RECIPIENTS
  • Dr. Estel Blay – 2024 (Inspirational Award)
  • Hypatia Mars -2024
  • Serena Campioli, 2023 (Essay Award)
  • Natalia Lemarquis, 2023 (Essay Award)
  • Katharina Siems, 2022 (Essay Award)
  • Dr. Olivia Borgue, 2022 (Essay Award)
  • Yulia Akisheva, 2021 for a project on fostering diversity, equity and capacity building in the space workforce
  • Sahba El-Shawa, 2021 for presenting her paper on JSRI and Jordan’s participation in lunar exploration

MOST RECENT WIA-EUROPE OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENTS AWARD RECIPIENTS 

  • Simonetta Cheli (2024)
  • Dr. Anne Cazenave (2021)
  • Dr. Pascale Ehrenfreund (2020)
  • Ms. Grazia Vittadini (2019)
  • Ms. Claudie Haigner (2017)
  • Ms. Candace Johnson (2016)
  • Ms. Jocelyne Landeau-Constantin (2015)

 
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